Prisoners of Today
by Three Faces Of Eve
Summary: Lately, Dr. Daniel Jackson has been falling into a selfdestructive pattern, fearing that he is the center of pain and misery. But when he meets up with the wild and smart Adrian Ashlen, will he be able to pull himself out of his rut? Will she? DJOC


Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate SG1, etcetera etcetera financially poor etcetera please don't sue. Oh, I do own Adrian Ashlen. Not that I think anyone would want her 

Chapter 1

Daniel stared at the bottle in front of him, resisting the strange urge to poke it.

"Hmph. Strange." Alcohol was strange, that was for sure. It had the power to him the biggest idiot after just two bottles. Strange. If he had been at all sober, Daniel would have rambled off the origins of alcohol, and other seemingly unimportant facts.

Daniel had wanted to escape. During another action less day, Daniel had been left in his thoughts. And his thoughts were not puppies and flowers and hard (but not doomsday) translations. No, loneliness, grief and disgust with himself had tormented him all day, and all he wanted to was to escape.

So, in the most antisocial of moods, he had headed to this bar to drink himself into oblivion-which, to say the least, wasn't very hard. The dim, but clean bar was often frequented by employees of Cheyenne Mountain who shared his feelings, varied.

"Bullshit!" The harsh word surprised him, even though it had come from his mouth. But he agreed with it. It was bullshit, utter and complete and utter bullshit. More drunken talk, his train of thought stopping for a moment to straighten out, then started up again… Was this the life he was condemned to? Saving the world(s), with no one to save b **him** /b ? Daniel's mind was spinning- everyone he loved, he lost. His parents- gone. Sha're- gone. He had even lost SG1, over and over again, destroying him over and over again. He thanked whatever higher being (that he didn't believe in) every night for his team. But he still wondered- was it enough? How long would they live? Would Jack, Sam or Teal'c leave him, or would he be the first to go? Would everyone he got close to suffer?

"You know, alcohol isn't necessarily the best way to escape…"

Daniel was startled out his thoughts, and turned to his left, towards the sultry voice. Next to him, close to him, was a pretty girl- no, a woman.

Her curly, light brown hair and pale face was barely recognizable through his drunken haze. He squinted.

As they stared at each other, the woman smirking and Daniel confused, his bright blue eyes dizzyingly meeting hers- grayish blue, lined in heavy black- and it came to him.

She worked with him… right? She was an anthropologist and biologist, and damn good at her job.

"Doctor _Ashlen_?"

"Oh, took you long enough." Her grin let him know that she was only teasing, her full lips spreading across her face in delight. "Oh, and Daniel?" she didn't wait for a response. "Call me Adrian, will you?"

He nodded, his glasses slipping down his nose.

She climbed up on the stool next to him, quickly asking the burly bartender for a Diet Coke, paying him with crumpled green bills. Adrian took a drink from the bottle, Daniel watching the way her hands grasped the beverage, staring distractedly.

The black clad woman winked at him, her many necklaces swinging as she took another sip. "I always was a bit partial to Regular, but this Diet stuff is nice. Also, you know, no sugar. Which is good." Daniel was surprised at the superficial statement, but appreciated it.

He nodded, speaking slowly but deliberately. "I'm not a fan of alcohol, period, but sometimes… sometimes… I need it…" Daniel was having trouble comprehending what was going on, the cheap alcohol already affecting him.

Adrian smiled slightly. "When I was younger, before I was even legal, and after, I often would try and escape just like you are tonight. I just didn't use alcohol." Realizing what she said had flown right over his head, she elaborated. "Ah, poor, poor naïve Daniel. To be honest, I really shouldn't be telling you this. You know, the whole working for the government, while having done illegal things in the past… Bit of a conflict." She grinned at him. "Hell, you still haven't gotten it? When I was younger, instead of drowning my sorrows in the bottle, I chose a herbal remedy." She stuck her tongue out at him.

He returned the grin. "I'm… honestly a little surprised-ed. Didn't really um… think you were the um… drugs type." The effect of his flirty statement was lost, his stuttering words ruining it.

She laughed anyway. The acceptance found in her voice, and the humor, made Daniel beam.

"I really wasn't. I didn't lose a single brain cell, or at least none that I could use."

Daniel giggled again, slowly going to hysterics, and his face going bright red.

"Damn, I didn't think I was THAT funny." Adrian looked at him, speculative, and then offered to take him home. He was still laughing, and then fell off of his seat.

"Um, um, I gotta… go."

"You're drunk."

"Well, yes…"

"Jesus, you really can't hold a drink." She capped the Diet Coke, and then lifted Daniel up off the floor by the arm, dragging him outside. Once out into the dark, the ground damp from past drizzle, she blinked. "Where's your car."

"I can get a taxi…"

"Hah, no way. You're not spending money on a taxi when I can just take you home."

Daniel gave up and stumbled his way towards it, and somehow managed to give her the keys. She opened the door for him, plopping inside. When Adrian got into the other side and looked over, she sighed at his sleeping form, leaning over and buckling him in like a baby.

The drive home was incredibly uncomfortable for Adrian. Whenever any sound came from Daniel, she could feel her back stiff ram rod straight. Also, he had absolutely no good CD's, so she gave in and turned on NPR (National Public Radio).

She had to admit the truth. She was… infatuated with Doctor Daniel Jackson. Not just a man, but a hero, a genius. Adrian sighed, her pension for drama annoying her.

She glanced at Daniel, and then took a right turn. He had fallen asleep before he could have given her directions to his apartment. And since Adrian couldn't bring up the courage to wake him, she took the possibly harder route and was taking him to her own house.

Another glance. The man still managed to be unbearably handsome, even when he was drooling on his car window. Or maybe, that was the reason.

Adrian had never been the kind of girl that boys dated. Two 'smart,' to weird, not pretty enough.

But it wasn't all _their _fault. Adrian knew she had extraordinarily high standards, but always figured it was for the best. She had seen to many unhappy marriages to settle. Maybe unhappy wasn't the best choice of words, but even in her head, Adrian tried to be at least a little polite.

But now- now she was practically carrying the only man who not ONLY met her standards, but surpassed them to her front door. As smart, no, smarter than her, handsome, and one of the most moral and caring person she had ever met.

And he was in her apartment. Then, her bedroom. She took off his shoes, putting them next to the bed. Daniel groaned, and she shushed him. "Sleep, Daniel." Adrian did have the random urge to tell him not to let the bed bugs lay eggs in his ear, but she figured he had already experienced things like that, and didn't want to provoke any nightmares out of him.

Laying her black comforter over him, she gave him one last glance, and then closed the equally dark door.

Alright, first chapter is done. Oh, and I edited it, so I could make it fit my plot.


End file.
